College Luncheon
by Johnny Wycliffe
Summary: Tsukune Ano is trying to get into college, supported by his friend Moka. To his surprise, he gets into the school Moka goes to, and it's there he learns some distressing things about reality. 1) Monsters are real. 2) This entire college is set up for monsters, and 3) If he's not careful, he'll end up as lunch.
1. Chapter 1: Dorming

"Name?"

I stand up slightly straighter. "Tsukune Aono."

The interviewer looks down at his papers and shuffles them about.

My eyes dart around the room, noting the drab gray interior, all the way from the gray carpets to the gray walls and blinds. The interviewer is wearing gray, and the desk is a gray metal slab. The only splash of color is the fern in the corner.

"What are you planning to study?" The interviewer suddenly starts back up.

I can feel a drop of sweat roll down my neck, staining the collar of my button up shirt. "Business Management. I want to-"

"That's fine." The interview flips a page in his book and scribbles some things down in his book. "Next, why did you choose Raakshas University?"

"I heard lots of good things about Raakshas. My best friend's dad also obtained a degree-"

He holds up his hand and scribbles more notes on the paper.

There's enough sweat beading on my face and neck that the interviewer would have to blind to miss it. I can't tell how this interview is going at all.

In fact, isn't this strange? Why did I have to meet this guy in person? Don't most colleges do this through a computer nowadays?

"Alright Mr Aono. You're free to go." The interviewer closes the file with a slam.

It takes a second for my brain to catch up. "W-Wait. Did I pass?"

The man glares at me over his half moon spectacles. "The board will review your application, and we'll get back to you."

"Oh. Um, thank you for your time." I fumble my words and hastily back out of the room.

The door closes behind me, and I stand still for a few seconds before opening the secondary door into the reception area. I can feel the chances of me getting accepted flying away from me. That was a travesty! Can I get a do-over?

The reception area has a few other students here, all of them waiting for their turn to come around. Well, all but one.

A pink haired beauty with a rosary around her neck looks up from her magazine, her gray eyes somehow still more colorful than the office I had just left.

As I approach, she stands up and places the magazine down, grabs her purse and meets me at the door. "How did it go?" Moka asks.

I push through the door into the midday glare. "Bizarrely. He barely paid any attention to me, asked me three questions, then dismissed me. He didn't even listen to my answers."

She frowns. "Weird."

"You're telling me."

Moka pulls her keys out of her bag, presses the lock button, and her Lamborghini beeps in response. "Well, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure you'll get in. He was probably dazzled by your enthusiasm."

Yeah, right. I climb into the passenger seat of the Moka's luxury car and close my eyes.

"And hey, I got in, so you can too!"

A laugh escapes before I can stop it.

I can feel her glare on my face. "What's so funny?"

"Moka, you're rich, kind, and smarter than most people in the area. Not to mention you're knockout gorgeous. Raakshas would have to be insane to refuse your application."

The car starts to move, and I open my eye just enough to see that she has a faint pink tinge on her cheeks. "Oh, stop."

"So," I decide to change the subject. "How is your dad doing?"

The conversation flows to less collegey subjects and onto our daily lives, which is less painful to talk about.

When we get to my house, she pulls up to the curb and sets the car in park. "Make sure to tell me as soon as you know the results!" She gives me a big, confident smile.

I can't help but smile back. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be for a few days anyway."

I get out, exchange goodbyes, and wave as she pulls away, the Lamborghini rapidly speeding away down the street. Moka is really kind-natured, driving me to my interview despite her own busy schedule.

I head inside to find mom is busy at the stove in the kitchen. "Tsukune! How did your interview go?"

I sit down on one of the chairs around the table and rest my head on the cool surface. "It didn't go that well. The interviewer was so disinterested, I don't even know if he did anything other than doodle on my paperwork."

"Aw, that's too bad. But hey! You got to go on a date with Moka!" The glint in her eye...

"I keep telling you-"

"It's not like that. Of course, of course." Mom turns and smiles knowingly.

No, seriously. Not dating. In truth, Moka's the reason I want to go to Raakshas in the first place because I do have a crush on her, but hell would freeze over before she would feel the same way.

We met three years ago during our second year of high school. We were put on a group project together, and we became friends while doing the project. She's the kind of person that gets along with everyone though. Heck, she used to be treated like some kind of movie star. Yet she always had time for me, the quiet introvert in the back.

There's no doubt in my mind where my crush came from. Attention from a member of the opposite sex will do that to you, and if that member is Moka?

The door opens again, and dad walks in holding the mail. As he walks past mumbling greetings, he drops an envelope in front of me. The return address is… Raakshas Admissions?

"What?" I murmur, already reaching for a knife to open the letter. I slice open the envelope and pull out three pieces of paper. Without meaning to, I start reading out loud. "Dear Tsukune Aono, Congratulations on being accepted-"

Dad grunts. "See? Told you you'd get accepted."

"But I applied earlier today!" I look back at the papers and look for some official seals. Some really convincing looking gold sticker-seal things are plastered on the paperwork. On one of the papers, I have been given an ID, an ID number, and a dorm room number. "They can't have processed the paperwork already."

Wait, dorm room number?

Dad opens an envelope, reads the contents, and shove it towards me. "Look, you even got full scholarships, including a dorm room. Your interview must have been really impressive."

...What? Okay, when do the cameramen come out and start yelling about how I've been pranked?

Unfortunately, normal business hours are over, so I can't the administrative offices to confirm the prank until tomorrow. I look over the information again. It still looks official, and a quick search on my phone shows that the seal is either legitimate or a very good forgery.

I tuck the mail away when mom brings the food to the table, and finish quickly.

Once finished, I head back to my room and start googling around to see if scam letters had become a problem recently.

When my phone buzzes, I almost jump out of my skin. The custom ring-tone I have for Moka rings for a few more seconds before I can recover my wits enough to actually answer the thing.

"Hello Moka."

"Hey Tsukune. You left your backpack in my car." She says.

I glance to the corner where I usually keep the bag. "Oh. Whoops."

"Yeah. I'll drive by tomorrow to drop it off, okay?"

"That sounds fine." I take a breath. "Um, so..."

"Yes?"

"It looks like I might have gotten accepted."

"Yay! I knew you could get in!"

"But how did they process the paperwork so fast?" I muse aloud. "I fact, I was just checking to see if it was a prank or something."

"Who cares? Now we can attend together!" Moka cheers on her end of the phone, maxing out the microphone and causing some feedback.

My heart quickens at her words. Can't really help it.

"When do you move in?" She continues.

"According to these papers, one week."

* * *

One week later, I find myself outside a large building. It has a brick facade, about ten floors, and the words "Raakshas Residence Hall" written in big letters on the side.

Mom, still in the car, winds down her window. "I'll be back with your mattress and the rest of your stuff tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks for dropping me off."

I hike the duffel up on my shoulder and head into the lobby. The receptionist calls over to me and checks my ID, then hands me a room key. Sixth floor, room six-twenty-seven.

Apparently, the layout of rooms in this dorm is four bedrooms connected to one bathroom, kitchen and living room, so I'll be sharing living space with three strangers. It's kind of exciting.

I take the elevator up to the sixth floor and search for my room number. It's one of the farthest from the elevators, in the corner of the building.

When I open the door, it turns out I'm not the first person to arrive. Two women are chatting to each other at the table.

One of them has jet black hair tied up in ribbons to form a ponytail off either side of her head. Her eyes are a light pinkish-red, and she has on some elaborate black gothic dress. The other woman has blue hair held in place by a headband, and is currently facing away from me. She's wearing a yellow sweater and a skirt.

"Looks like we have our next roommate." Says the woman in black.

The blue haired girl turns around-

Okay, those aren't real. No way. I manage to pry my eyes away from her chest long enough to see that he has violet eyes.

"Let me introduce myself." Says the woman in black. "I'm Ruby."

The blue haired bombshell smiles. "I'm Kurumu. I hope we can get along."

"Ah, likewise. I'm Tsukune."

Ruby points to one of the four doors in the back. "That one will be your room, The two to the left of that are my room and Kurumu's respectively. Off to your left is the kitchen, and to the right is the bathroom."

"Thanks." I head through the indicated door and into my living space for the foreseeable future. Worn hardwood floors, could probably use a new paint job, but it doesn't smell bad. There's a spring frame waiting for a mattress dominating most of the room, with a small desk off to the side. A dresser sits against the back wall, and a window sits beside that.

I set my bag down, and sit in the chair in front of the desk. It's all starting to really sink in. This is my new room. I'm no longer in that room back at home.

"What smells so good?" I hear Kurumu ask from the other room.

"I don't know. I can't smell it." Ruby starts sniffing.

"Wait… I know that smell." Kurumu's voice comes to my ears as I start to unpack my bag. She comes into my room and taps on the door frame. "Tsukune, was it? What are you doing here?"

What kind of question is that? "Um… going to college, hopefully. If not, I'm really confused right now."

My small joke fails to make her laugh. "Aren't there a lot of other colleges you could go to?"

I stop unpacking my bag. "Do you have a problem with me?" Oh crap, I made the mistake of looking at her. She's not even dressed provocatively, but I have a hard time dragging my eyes away from her… features.

The front door opens and I hear Ruby greet someone at the door.

"Not a problem, just questioning your common sense. People like you tend not to last long in these kind of environments." She shrugs, and her smile comes back, along with a strange glint in her eyes. "Oh, whatever. It works out to my advantage anyway." She sits on the edge of the bed frame, holding her hand up to her mouth.

Then she licks her finger slowly, the movement hypnotizing me.

Ruby bursts in. "Our last roommate has… arrived..." She trails off as she sees what is going on. She sends a sharp glare at Kurumu.

Kurumu sighs and drops her hand.

Suddenly, I realize I can move freely again. My cheeks color, and I quickly go back to unpacking.

Kurumu sighs. "Aw, and I was just getting started. So who's our new roommate?"

"Nice to meet you, I'm-" Comes a familiar voice. "Tsukune?"

"Two people named Tsukune? That's odd." Kurumu comments.

I turn around to find a familiar head of pink hair. "Moka?"

"We're in the same dorm? What a coincidence!" She walks right up to me and gives me a hug from over the back of the chair. "This is going to be great!"

"Yeah." I have to smile at her overeagerness.

"So, you two know each other then." Kurumu pouts. "No fair."

Moka lets go and formally introduces herself to the other girls. Meanwhile, I continue unpacking my bag. Hold on, I didn't pack this bin. I open the lid to find some cookies and a note from mom.

"Wow Kurumu. You must have some nose on you to be able to smell these cookies."

The three girls look at me. Kurumu even tilts her head like a puppy. "Huh?"

"You smelled these earlier, right? You said something smelled good."

She blinks. "Oh. Oh! Yes, that's what I smelled. Can I have one?"

I offer the bin out, and they each take a cookie.

It looks like I'll be able to get along with my roommates. One less thing to worry about.

* * *

Classes start tomorrow, So I have the rest of the day to muddle about and get used to campus. Ruby is on her last year of classes, so she volunteers to guide us around campus and get us familiar with the area. She takes us to the campus center, the library, and the science building before just pointing us around to various buildings. I had a list of where each class would be held, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out where each classroom is, at least.

"So, any questions?" Ruby asks as we head back to the dorms. The sun is about to set, so we've been out here well past dinnertime.

"Yeah." I point to two girls wearing pointy hats with wide brims. "Is there a coven on campus, or what?"

Ruby smiles. "Yes there is! I'm a member."

"Wow."

Somehow, despite her apparent enthusiasm, she seems anxious to move on, so I drop the subject.

Right as we enter the next building, Moka's phone rings. She gestures for us to move ahead.

"So, you're a witch then? Hat and everything?"

Ruby nods. "Yep! Wanna see them?"

"Yeah!"

When we get back to the dorm, Ruby heads into her room to get her stuff.

I sit down at the table in the kitchen, and Kurumu sits down next to me. "You seem to not mind that she's a witch."

I shrug. "Hating witches is outdated. I'm sure she has enough people on her back that I don't need to add to that."

Kurumu frowns. "You already know about witches?"

Something isn't sitting right. I can't put my finger on it, but it seems like Kurumu and I aren't on the same page.

Ruby comes back before I can question her, wearing a large black witch's hat and holding a short staff with a purple gem inserted into the crook at the top. She twirls around and point the staff at me.

"Oooh." I clap a few times.

She twirls the staff a few times before sitting down across from me. "I'm glad you like it."

Kurumu examines her nails. "She's not even that flashy compared with other witches."

Ruby points her staff at Kurumu. "Hey!"

"What? Were you a witch too, Kurumu?" I ask.

"Hell no! I'm a succubus!"

...What? I mean, sure, she could probably pass as one, but I've never heard of a girl that would voluntarily call herself-

Ruby's eye twitches. "Uh, he might not-"

"He knows." Kurumu sighs. "He says he knows about witches, so..."

"Everyone knows about witches, Kurumu." Ruby grimaces.

"Hold on a second!." I protest. "And calling yourself a succubus… isn't that a bit harsh on yourself?"

Kurumu turns back to me, confusion playing across her face. I look between the two women. They exchange glances.

Ruby starts slowly. "Tsukune, do monsters exist?"

"Of course not. If they did, somebody would have noticed by now." I answer immediately.

"And if I told you they did exist?" She continues.

"I'd say you were-" I bite my tongue. I was going to say crazy, but for all I know witches might believe in monsters.

Kurumu's face drains of color. "No wonder you were so nonchalant about coming here."

Ruby clears her throat. "Okay, let's pretend this never happened."

"No, you got me interested now." I protest. "What do you mean, monsters exist?"

"Er, it was a joke." Ruby starts tugging at her collar.

"Yeah, it's not like this entire college was designed with monsters in mind." Kurumu says in a thoroughly unconvincing manner. "That would be absurd."

I look between the two of them. "You don't look like you were kidding." I fold my arms. "And what was that about this college being made for monsters?"

They both deflate slowly. Ruby glares daggers at Kurumu. "This is your fault."

Kurumu sighs and snaps her fingers to get my attention. "Well, I guess there's no helping it." She snaps her fingers.

I turn to look. Aside from my constant battle to keep my eyes aimed at her face-

Leathery bat wings sprout from her back, and her fingernails suddenly grow to six inches long each.

But… what? Huh? How is that possible?

Ruby stands up and twirls her wand around again. This time, little sparks of light trail from the jewel as it moves through the air. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Ruby Tōjō, witch. Nice to meet you."

Kurumu yawns. "He already knows us. Introductions are stupid." She taps one elongated fingernail on the table.

"So… there are monsters here?" I say weakly.

"Yeah, and _only_ monsters." Kurumu straightens up in her chair, letting her wings fold back and disappear behind her, her nails shrinking back to long, but not freakishly long. "Humans aren't supposed to be able to enroll."

"Some monsters eat humans, so it might cause an incident." Ruby elaborates. "Not to mention our secret might get out."

"Speaking of which," Kurumu looks back to me with an appraising look. "Can we trust that he won't tell people?"

"Yeah… I-I'm gonna go to bed now." I manage to stammer out. "The world stopped making sense."

"I guess we can leave the matter until tomorrow. Sleep well?" Ruby calls after me.

"I can help with th- OW!" Kurumu yells as Ruby presumably hits her. I can't help but briefly consider how nice that would be-

I get to my room and close the door behind me. What the… what is going on? Monsters are real? This is too crazy! It makes no sense! Wait, maybe this is some sort of hazing thing. But then, how did Kurumu sprout wings? Those looked very real, not to mention the nails. And Ruby's staff was sparking, or something.

After turning it around in my head a few more times, I reluctantly give in. Okay, monsters probably exist, or I'm just that gullible. Somehow, they haven't managed to be discovered despite modern technology. I'm currently boarding with two of them, a witch and a… succubus.

Well, that would explain some things about Kurumu. Two big, jiggly things.

I grab a thin blanket from my bag and lie down on the floor, resting my head against my duffel bag. Like hell I'm sleeping on the bare wires of the bed frame, though I might not be getting much sleep tonight. Too many questions floating around my head.

Outside, I can hear the other two cook some food, clean up, and go to their rooms. Eventually, Moka comes back, calls out softly, and apparently finding the rest of us asleep, cleans up and goes to bed herself.

It's only much later in the night that I realize what must be the scariest question of all: If I'm the only human, what does that make Moka?

* * *

Morning comes slowly. When my alarm clock reads six AM, I decide its fine to get up. I only have two classes today, both of them in the afternoon, so I'm free for a while. Maybe I can actually get some sleep now that it's daylight?

The fridge is full of normal foods at least, so I grab some eggs and start scrambling them. The smell makes my stomach growl, which makes sense since I haven't eaten in over half a day.

"Making enough to share?"

I turn slightly to see Kurumu walk out of her room, dressed in a nightgown. It's not even that elaborate, just a short, opaque blue dress, yet I can feel my face heating up, so I turn back to the stove. "No, but I can make you some if you want."

"Thanks." I hear her pull out a chair and sit down at the table. "So… sorry about dropping that bombshell last night."

"No, well, it's better I know about it, right? After all, it's best I don't provoke anyone and get eaten while in class."

"You're staying? I would've bet money you'd leave once you found out."

I scrape the eggs from the pan into a dish and place the dish in front of the blue haired girl. "I... actually didn't think of that."

"You're either brave or stupid, dunno which." She spears a bite and sticks it into her mouth. "Mmm!"

"Probably stupid." I crack two more eggs into the pan and sprinkle some salt over it. "So, what other monsters are there?"

"Besides succubi? Lots. Anything you've read about in stories, probably. It's kind of hard to tell you which ones are here though. Most of the time we all walk around in human form in case some random human sees us. Hell, Ruby took us all around campus and you didn't realize anything was off." She answers between bites. "It's rude to just ask what someone is as well."

I finish my own batch of eggs, turn off the stove and sit down across from her. "How many monsters eat humans?"

"Well… most of us _can_ eat humans, but very few _need_ to eat humans." Kurumu hedges. "A lot of monsters get their energy from humans without eating them though. Hey, as long as nobody figures out you're human, you'll be safe. It might be hard with the smell though."

"Smell?"

She nods. "You smell a lot tastier than most humans."

I snap my fingers. "That's what you were smelling when I came in yesterday."

"Hmm." Kurumu hums in affirmation while she finishes her eggs. "Don't worry, I won't eat you… at least, not in the way you're thinking." She gives me a wink, which bring blood to my face. "I'm taking a shower. Feel free to peek."

Yeah right. I finish my eggs in peace and wash both dishes quickly. Mom said she'd be here around nine with the rest of my stuff, so I have… two and a quarter hours to kill until she gets here.

Moka comes out of her room. "Hi, Tsukune!" She comes over, smiling as usual.

I start to greet her as normal, but last night's question rings in my head. Instead, I just stand there with my mouth hanging open.

She gives me an odd look. "Are you alright? You look pale." She reaches out and grabs my arm. It takes a lot of effort not to flinch away from her.

"I… I'm fine." I finally regain control of my mouth. "W-Would you like some eggs?"

She continues to give me the odd look before shaking her head and plastering her usual smile on her face. "Sure! I haven't had you make me breakfast in a while!"

"Yeah." I turn the stove back on. "What was that call about yesterday?"

"Oh, dad just wanted to make sure everything was alright. Then he made me go back home for dinner, and mom took me last minute shopping."

"Sounds like fun."

"What were you doing? Getting friendly with our new roommates?" She asks with a teasing tone.

"Hah. No, I was too tired last night and called it early, shortly after you got the phone call."

"Yes, absolutely no fun." The bathroom door opens. Moka and I both turn to look.

Kurumu is dressed only in a towel that is barely enough to keep her modest. I feel something on my lip, touch my hand, and it comes away bloody. I thought that only happened in comics.

"Tsukune! Look away!" Moka yells.

I instinctively turn back to the stove.

"Aw, why are you trying to spoil my fun?" Kurumu playfully asks. "It's not like he's yours or anything. And if he is, I can fix that."

"What are you guys yelling about?" Ruby's voice comes from somewhere behind me.

"Moka objects to me getting close to her boyfriend." Kurumu says nonchalantly.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Moka retorts.

"Then what's the problem?" Kururmu ask innocently.

"Ruby, do you want some eggs?" I ask, deciding to ignore the conversation at the table and resolutely staring at the stove.

"Eggs? Sure. Four please."

"The problem is that you can't just claim him!" Moka stamps her foot under the table. She's not that strong, so her stomp ends up being closer to cute than intimidating.

"Uh, Kurumu, your towel is slipping." Ruby interjects.

"Well, I don't see any problem with it."

Moka huffs. "How would you like it if I walked around like that?"

I lose if I answer. I lose if I answer. I lose-

"And there goes the towel." Ruby comments.

"Tsukune, if you look I'm going to hit you." Moka threatens me.

"Tsukune, if you DON'T look, I'm gonna hit you." Kurumu says, clearly enjoying herself.

I stop cooking for a second to hold my head in my hands. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a small snapshot of the rest of this semester.

* * *

"Have you met your dorm members yet?" Mom asks as I pull a laundry basket with my PC onside it out of the back seat of her car. Dad is busy untying the mattress from the top of the car.

"Yeah. Moka actually ended up in the same set of rooms as I did." I reply.

She grabs my other bag of clothes and follows me into the building. "And who else?"

"First, there's Ruby. She's a senior, and she's a witch."

"A witch? Wow, I didn't know people still take Wicca that seriously nowadays."

"You and me both." I deadpan. "The other girl is Kurumu. She's just starting like me."

"All girls, huh?" Mom elbows me. "Sounds like you'll have a fun semester."

I can feel my face heating up. "Come on, mom."

I open the door to the common room to find the three girls chatting around the table. Mom promptly drops my bag when she's standing and heads over to the table.

Whatever. I drop off my computer basket and head back to grab my bag, deposit that and head back downstairs to help dad.

He's gotten the mattress off the car at least.

"Hey dad. Need help?"

"What kind of college requires you to buy your own mattress, anyway?" He grumbles.

"Monster college." I mumble.

"What?"

I shake my head. "It was a joke, dad. So, do you need my help?"

"Yeah. Grab that corner."

Ten minutes of maneuvering later, the mattress is on the bed frame. At least I have a real place to sleep tonight. I follow dad back out to the car.

"Who's that hot bluenette?" He asks once we're on the lobby floor.

"Kurumu."

He shakes his head. "She certainly draws the eye, doesn't she?"

"Yep. And she knows it to."

"Make sure not to get tangled up with her. Those kinds are always trouble. If you do get tangled up with her, at least use a condom."

"Dad!"

He grins and gets into the driver seat of the car. "Can you go up and send your mom down? She only took a half day today, and I'm going to get chewed out if she's late."

"Got it." I turn and head back to the building.

"Son?"

I turn back.

"Good luck. I'm confident you'll do fine, just watch yourself."

"Thanks, dad." I wave and head back into the building.

When the elevator opens to send me up, Moka steps out.

"Tsukune! I'm headed off to my first class."

"Yeah? Which one?" I step into the elevator and press the six, but hold the door open with one hand.

"Calculus I."

Right. Moka's a lot smarter than me. "Have fun with that."

"I will! See you later."

I let the doors close and head up to the sixth floor.

"...and then he- oh, hi Tsukune." Mom says.

I look between the three women at the table. Kurumu is smirking, Ruby is barely containing her laughter, and mom has an innocent look on her face.

Great. What embarrassing thing was she talking about? Please be something other than the zoo incident. Please, please, anything but that.

Kurumu schools her face to be as neutral as possible. "So Tsukune. Why giraffes?"

God damn it.

* * *

My first class is History I. I sit somewhere in the middle of the room and watch as people fill in. A thought strikes me as more people come in. All of these people are monsters disguised as humans.

A few of the new arrivals visible sniff the air and stare in my general direction. Thankfully, the area around me filled in fast enough that the later arrivals probably couldn't pinpoint me out of the crowd. Though, I should probably try to find a bestiary of some kind to figure out what I'm up against.

The teacher comes in, shuffles a few papers and clears her throat. "Hello, students. I'm Shizuka Nekonome."

She proceeds to give out the syllabus, tell us what textbook to buy, and outlines the topics we'll be covering.

This course seems like it will be interesting, at least.

"...and with that, I'll let you guys out early. I'll see you Thursday." She finishes.

The volume of the class immediately grows to a dull roar. I pack my pencil and notebook into my backpack and head to the front of class to exit the room.

Shizuka notices me quickly. To my surprise, she takes two sniffs in my direction and cat ears sprout out of her hair. She doesn't seem to notice the ears herself. "Um, you." She points to me. "Can I see you for a minute?"

It occurs to me for the first time that the teachers are monsters too, seeing those ears. It puts me on my guard. "Yes?" I respond.

"You've spent most of your time in the human world, right? I can tell by your scent. If you don't want some of our wilder friends coming after you, you might want to change that."

My eye twitches. "Ah, thanks for the advice." Unsolicited, but useful I guess.

She smiles, revealing two slightly elongated canines. "Happy to be of service. I was almost mauled when I first came here smelling like a human." She dismisses me and walks out of the door.

I walk out of the classroom a moment later and look at my sheet with my next classroom. "Let's see, after this is..."

"Basic Economics."

"Yeah, Basic economics." I blink. Who said that?

A girl with light purple hair, blue eyes, an extremely baggy sweatshirt and a skirt is standing next to me, staring at my face. She has a lollipop in her mouth, which she slides from one corner of her lips to another.

"Hi?"

She smiles. "Hi."

"Who are you?"

"Mizore."

"Mizore, huh. Nice to meet you. I'm-"

"Tsukune Aono."

"-Tsukune…" It appears she already knows my name. Suddenly, I'm really uncomfortable.

"Our next class is Basic Economics." She says.

I look back at my paper. Yes, my next class is economics. "Huh, you're right… Our?"

She dips her head a bit and blushes. The lollipop stem swirls from one side to the other and back. "Same classes." She eventually elaborates.

"Well, I guess being new students, we would have some of the same-"

"All of the same classes." She pulls a crumpled sheet of paper from her skirt pocket and hands it to me.

...The paper is a bit moist. I hope it's just from sweat. The paper is a schedule sheet just like mine, except it has the name "Mizore Shirayuki" at the top. Scratch that, identical to mine. Every class is the same.

I can feel a cold sweat breaking out on my back. I'm going to get eaten, I just know it.

"Tsukune!"

I turn to see Moka come up. "Hi."

She gives me a smile before turning to Mizore. "Who is this?"

Mizore moves the lollipop around in her mouth a bit more before suddenly grabbing my arm. "Mizore. Tsukune's wife."

Time appears to freeze. All the sounds of late summer, birds and insects, have stopped. Even the sky seems dimmer all of a sudden, leaving only one thing, one person lit. Moka's eye twitches, and a black aura seems to surround her. Her eyes flash red she comes right up to Mizore with terrifying grin. "What did you say?"

Mizore blinks, then looks down. "Ah."

Moka suddenly recoils and covers her mouth. "S-sorry! I didn't mean…!"

"Jeez, Moka, you don't have to bite her head off." A pungent smell starts to fill the air, and I follow Mizore's gaze.

A pool of liquid is rapidly freezing despite the warm weather, having trailed down her legs and-

Moka throws her hands in front of my face. "Look away!"

I quickly turn away. "Right, I'll go-"

"Don't." Mizore says, her dull tone of voice almost pleading. "Scary."

Moka sighs. "I… I'm sorry. We need to get you to a bathroom quickly, and get you a change of clothes. Tsukune, you can handle that, right?"

"Handle what?"

"Get her a new set of clothes."

"...No? No, I'm pretty sure I can't handle that."

"Room six-twenty-six." I hear something jingle. Mizore must have handed Moka her key.

Moka moves past me. "I'll go get her a change then. You escort her to a restroom."

Eh? But-

Mizore grabs my shirt from behind with two fingers. Moka's eye twitches, but otherwise she pretends not to see it.

Oh-kay. If I remember correctly, there are bathrooms… that way.

I lead Mizore to the nearest girls room, and gesture her in. She smiles very slightly and heads in.

...My legs almost give out form under me. What the hell was with Moka? She's… she's usually so gentle, so nice to everyone. What… is she?

A monster. Right, a monster.

It's just now sinking in. My friend of three years. A monster. Not human. It's hard to wrap my head around it. And what was that? She had an aura! How powerful do you need to be to have a freaking aura?!

"...Tsukune?" Mizore's voice comes from behind the door.

"Yeah?"

"Scary friends."

"Moka's not usually that scary, I swear. She's- I think she's just getting used to college life."

She's quiet for a while, then her voice comes from the doorway again. "Yuki-onna."

"Huh?"

"I'm a yuki-onna. Snow woman."

"Oh. Okay." That explains the freezing... Why is she telling me?

Moka comes back, her face flushed. She's holding a bundle of clothes and a plastic grocery bag. She walks past me into the bathroom.

That was fast. Like, four times too fast. Maybe Moka can teleport.

I wait for the two of them to come out, fiddling with my phone. The idea occurs to me to look up snow women.

Huh, mostly just monsters that cause snowstorms, at least in classic folklore. Nothing about them eating people. That's a relief. Mizore's still a bit worrying though, what with her knowing my name… and my schedule… and she apparently knew my schedule far enough in advance to set up hers the same way...

The little bit of relief fades away.

The two come out of the bathroom, Mizore in a new set of clothes. She swirls her lollipop around a few times, in what I suddenly realize is her "thinking" motion. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I say. "No, seriously. Don't."

Moka nods vigorously. "Mizore, come with me. We'll drop these off in the washing machine."

I wave to them and start walking away.

"Joke." Mizore says.

"Hmm?"

"Wife. Joke."

Moka laughs. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it, I just overreacted."

I walk around the next corner to find a bunch of students walking around a suspicious, now completely defrosted puddle in the middle of the tile floor.

Maybe I should call a janitor?

* * *

Moka is in my economics class, and she and Mizore sat on either side of me. I might have appreciated it more if I wasn't to busy trying to write notes while I keep feeling glares from all round the room from monsters that can smell me. Seriously. If I didn't know better, I'd assume this was allergy season what with all the sniffing.

The three of us got some pizza before heading back to our dorms. There's a pizza place operated by the campus with dollar-per-slice, which made it pretty crowded. The food is good though, even if the selection was odd. I've seen some odd topping choices in my time, but who eats pizza with fresh sushi on it? Or grasshoppers?

Mizore took out her lollipop for the first time that I had seen to eat a bite, and immediately put it back in her mouth when she was finished chewing. Either she doesn't have taste buds, that lollipop is flavorless, or it somehow makes a tasty combination.

When the three of us finish eating, Mizore follows us all the way to our room. Or, it seemed that way until she turned and opened the door across the hall. Huh, she lives right across the hall. I say goodnight, and she tilts her head slightly before disappearing into her dorm's living area. She's very odd, and quite possibly a stalker, but she seems nice enough.

I open the door to Moka and my rooms.

Inside, there are three people. Ruby and Kurumu are currently hiding behind the couch, and some younger girl that I don't know is standing in the middle of the room brandishing a wand with the end shaped like a heart. It has a star shape in the center of the heart, which is glowing blue. She seems to be saying something.

"...which means I deserve to be here just as much as you do!"

Ruby grabs my sleeve as I enter the room, pulling me down behind the cover of the couch. "Get down!"

"What's going on?" Moka asks, squeezing in beside me.

Kurumu points an elongated fingernail over the couch just as a washbasin of all things is flung overhead. Her nail catches on the edge, but instead of her fingernail getting caught, the basin edge she was touching is sliced apart. "Ruby's cousin came to visit."

"Yukari's at a delicate age." Ruby says mournfully. "I told her that she would be welcome to visit, but she wants to move in."

I peek around the top of the couch. Yukari looks like she's fifteen at most. She has her hands on her hips, her wand still clenched in one hand. "If you don't let me live with you, I'm going to blow up this entire building, and make sure I get your entire 'collection'!" She waves her wand and another washbasin forms in midair and suddenly starts towards me.

I barely duck in time.

"No! Not my collection!" Ruby jumps up, exposing herself to washtub fire. She raises her staff and the next tub to appear is stopped right before it hits her, then sends it back to sender.

Yukari gives off a squawk and the basin hits the back wall with a clang.

I slowly stand up to find Yukari on the floor, panting. Ruby is advancing on her with her staff drawn. "Never threaten my collection."

I look to Kurumu. "What collection?"

Kurumu shrugs, her fingernails returning to normal length. "I'm just glad it's over. I need to take a shower."

Getting a better look at her, I can see her clothes have some greenish goop on them. "Uh, what happened?"

"Slug tried to get too friendly with me. Next time, I'll slice him to ribbons." She growls and swipes with her hand, which is just not intimidating with her claws sheathed. In fact, it's pretty cute. Replace the growl with a "rawr" and-

I hope my nose isn't bleeding. By the time my focus has come back to reality, the blue haired girl has disappeared.

Ruby waves her staff again and suddenly Yukari is wrapped up in chains.

Moka turns to me. "You… don't seem surprised."

Oh. she doesn't know I know. "I was told about monsters yesterday. It seems I'm one of the few humans on campus."

Moka frowns. "Oh. I wasn't... er, I didn't think you'd find out. At least, not this quickly." For a second I think she might tell me what she is, but instead she heads to her room, shaking her head.

Ruby drags Yukari upright and sets her down at the table. "You're going to tell me what you're doing here." Ruby commands.

I walk over to listen.

"I'm joining Raakshas! You can't stop me!" Yukari says defiantly. "I passed all the tests!"

Ruby deflates slightly. "You passed all of them? How? You're only fifteen."

Yukari puffs her tiny chest out, to very little effect. "Yep! I have all the paperwork and everything! I was told to room with you since the rest of the dorms are full."

"Then why were you attacking when I walked in?" I ask.

"Ruby started it! All I did was change the color of her door and she flips out!" Yukari rolls her eyes.

"If I went around changing the color of your things, you'd flip out too!" Ruby accuses.

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

...I decide to leave the five-year-olds alone.

Kurumu's face appears from behind the bathroom door. "Um, Tsukune? Grab me my clothes, would you?" She points to a neatly folded nightgown.

I head over to the indicated garment, the plain thing she had worn this morning. It's surprisingly light, and I carry it back to the bathroom.

Kurumu's hand stretches out towards me, and I hold out the nightgown. Instead of grabbing the cloth, she grabs my arm and yanks, pulling me into the bathroom.

I can see her dirty clothes crumpled up in a ball in the corner, and I'm still holding her new clothes, so…

"I needed someone to wash my back, so you'll have to do." She whispers into my ear, before blowing into it.

I can feel my blood rushing to my face. My lip gets coated with blood from the nosebleed. She's a succubus, have to remember that. Meanwhile, I'm doing my best to look upwards, the only direction I know is safe.

The door bursts open to reveal Moka. Her cheek is puffed out and she's glaring at Kurumu. "He's not going to wash your back! I won't let him!"

Thank you for the resc-

"If he's washing anyone's back, it'll be mine!" She finishes.

...Moka, you just said something dangerous.

Moka stalks up to Kurumu (who is wearing a towel, at least) and they start glaring at each other. I take the opportunity to exit the bathroom and head to my room. My room has a lock, with which I can hold out all the craziness.

Theoretically. I'm not sure the door could stand up to Kurumu's claws.

I pull out my key and open my door, quickly shutting it and locking it behind me. Only then do I let my breath out.

"Loud."

I spin around to find Mizore lying on my bed, hugging my pillow.

"...I thought I locked my door."

She nods. "You did."

"Then how did you get in here? _When_ did you get in here?"

She shrugs.

My door shakes with an impact. A second later, four red spikes poke through the wood and slash downwards, validating my concerns about the ineffectiveness of the door in stopping Kurumu.

Who had lost her towel somewhere, as the crumbling door reveals.

"Tsukune! Don't look!" Moka shouts at me. She barrels into Kurumu, who falls over into my room, knocking me over onto Mizore.

Yukari runs in and jumps on top of us, yelling about dogpiles.

Ruby starts waving her staff around, creating... _something_ that was grabbing at us with tendrils.

Me? I passed out from a knee to the head. I think it was Kurumu's.

* * *

Welcome to the fic that hopefully isn't going to turn into an angst-fest. I make no promises though.

I wondered what would happen if you decided to throw poor Tsukune into college instead of high school, and this was my answer. I have plans for this series, oh yes.

Plans, I say!


	2. Chapter 2: Declawing

A field of wildflowers, blue skies, and a picnic basket on a blanket carefully spread out on the ground in the middle of the field.

On the blanket beside the basket sits Moka. She beams up at me. "Ready to eat?"

"Of course." I hear myself say, sitting down across from her.

Moka's cooking usually leaves something to be desired, but the... fried chicken? is delicious.

"Hey, I want some too!" Kurumu is on my side, pressing into me suggestively. Well, just pressing into me.

"No! I made this for Tsukune!" Moka says in that grumpy way that makes her just that much cuter.

"We've got enough to share." I say, and sure enough, there's three baskets full to the brim with chicken. You know, maybe some balance would be better.

Suddenly, Ruby and Yukari swoop in and take a basket each. I try to leap after them, but Kurumu has a death grip on my arm.

"Oh no, it looks like they stole your food." Kurumu smirks. "Moka, quick! protect the chicken!"

Moka actually jumps to her feat and heads after them, a black cloud forming behind her.

"So," Purrs Kurumu. "Now that the distractions are gone..." She climbs on top on my prone form, playing with one shoulder on her dress so that is starts to slide down her arm.

I gulp nervously. She leans down, her face getting awfully close-

My alarm rings, jerking my eyes open to see the roof of my dorm room, and not the blue skies of what I quickly realize was a dream. I feel awfully heavy, for first thing in the morning.

"Rrrgh." A low growl comes from right beside me. "And it was just getting to the good part."

I look to my left. Rub my eyes. Look again.

Sitting with her elbows on the edge of the bed, chin resting on top and a cute scowl on her face, a pair of violet eyes is staring back at me. A black, furry spade dangles from a thin cord of muscle, drifting back and forth rhythmically, the other end dissapearing behind the girl's shoulder.

"Kuru...mu?" I mumble, throat suddenly dry.

"Good morning." She says, though she looks a little peeved. "Sweet dreams?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess-"

She smirks. The black spade whips away from me and disappears behind her. She pulls herself into a standing position, which involves a lot of her body... _gainaxing._ I'm just glad she's put on clothes since last time I had seen her. "I'll make breakfast, you can sleep in." She says in a husky tone.

"Wait, what-" I try to sit up, but I find that I'm restricted on two fronts. On top of me is a curled up Mizore, somehow still sucking a lollipop in her sleep. On my right arm is... Moka? I can feel the blood rushing to my face, thanking whatever gods there are that everyone's fully clothed. I think I would panic otherwise. Maybe I'll still panic. I can feel soft bodes pressed against me, and that is very dangerous for a number of reasons.

"Er... Ruby?" I call out softly. "...Yukari? ...Kurumu?"

No answer. Okay, so I don't know where the witches are right now, but Kurumu should be able to hear me. After all, she had to have seen the other two on top of me. My door's still shredded, so Kurumu really doesn't have any excuse to not hear me.

I gently reach over and start prying Moka off of my right arm. She's very hesitant to let go, pulling my appendage closer every time I tug on it. My arm's entered some dangerous territory, so I close my eyes and try not to _feel_ anything as I recover my my limb. I can't help feeling a bit sad as Moka's face contorts slightly.

That leaves Mizore. Now with both of my arms free, I start pushing her sideways, budging the other way to make room for her on the bed. When she's three-quarters off, her eyes blink open slowly. She looks over at me, her expression one of very mild surprise. "Morning." She hums softly.

"Good morning." I reply. "If it's not too much trouble, could you get off of me?"

She glances down, as if to confirm that I am indeed pinned beneath her. "Oh." She slide off, and sits up with her knees to the side.

Freed, I swing my legs off of the side of the bed to start my daily routine, only to have them hit something.

Correction: some _one._

"Wha...? 'w much did I drink last night?" Ruby complains, holding her head in her hands as she blearily comes to her senses.

"...So, saying this room was _mine_ was just to humor me, then?" I mutter to nobody in particular.

That is when Yukari crawled out from under the bed with a look of annoyance. I decided not to ask.

* * *

Kurumu's breakfast was a mixed blessing. On one hand, she had prepared pancakes so light they absorb syrup like a sponge. The taste was beyond compare, really. The mixed part came in the fact that I was unable to look at her: Not so much that she was always out of sight, but because every time I so much as glanced in her general direction, I was suddenly staring at myself, my face faintly reflected in a perfect sheet of ice.

Needless to say, Mizore had joined us for breakfast. For whatever reason, she doesn't want me to look at the succubus.

Moka isn't being spared the view, and she's blushing profusely. Maybe I should be glad for Mizore's help?

Ruby passed back out in my room, mumbling about Venus fly traps, and Yukari is back in her room in a huff.

None of Mizore's methods stop sound, though, and the room is dominated by the sounds of Kurumu cursing as she attempts to get past Mizore's barriers. Moka is still blushing too hard to make conversation, since she can't even meet my eyes.

Mmm... pancakes.

I mentally consult my itinerary. I only have one class today, precalc I at one o' clock. That gives me plenty of time to get ready... Maybe I should repair my door. As it stands, I'm not going to get much privacy without one.

"Mizore, if you don't stop that _right now-"_ The rest of Kurumu's threat is cut off with a thud and a slam that sounded disturbingly like someone slipping and falling to the ground.

"Er, Kurumu? Are you okay?" I ask tentatively.

Moka peeks around the latest ice wall and her blush renews. "Yes, she's alright."

Red spikes pop through the ice wall, and claws scrape through the ice, carving swathes out of the barricades, which reform as soon as the claws vacate the area.

Something I hadn't been expected was for Mizore and Kurumu to already know each other. They went to the same high school, up north by a good bit. This is the only real monster college, so there's lots of people who already know each other. These two seem to either be very good friends or rivals of some sort.

I turn to Mizore, who was eating bites of pancake around her lollipop. "Mizore, aren't we supposed to... not use our powers?" I ask.

She blinks. "Good point." The ice that had been chilling the room melts away, leaving no sign of it's presence. Well, at least there wasn't any flooding from all that ice.

"No no, put the ice back!" Moka pleads. "Tsukune, don't look!"

Somehow, I knew. I knew before she stepped up behind me and pressed her assets into the back of my head. "So," Begins Kurumu, who doesn't appear to be wearing anything but an apron, judging by feel. "Say we go take a shower?"

"Er... I have to... go... buy a door." I manage to get out. Ahead of me is a door. If I focus on the door, to the exclusion of all else-

Ruby stumbles out of my room, for some reason lacking most of her clothes. Sure, she's still _technically_ decent, but unless they make black lace bikinis I'm pretty sure she's not really dressed for public.

I close my eyes and consider asking to be transferred to a different dorm room. This one is unsafe.

* * *

I managed to get out of the kitchen without either a nosebleed or getting hit like the main character in a love comedy, grabbing a set of clothes on the way to the shower. After very carefully verifying that nobody's in the bathroom I step in and take a quick shower. The quicker the better, I tell myself.

Something I notice though, is two faint marks on my arm. they look like freckles, but I'm not sure when they showed up. As far as I can tell, they weren't there yesterday. Maybe I just didn't notice? It seems really unlikely, but I suppose it could happen. Maybe Kurumu marked me... The thought sends shivers down my spine despite the hot water.

Okay, so witches, snow women and succubi are real things. I need to do some real research on those three when I get the chance. There's a library on campus, so I should probably start there. I climb out of the shower, grabbing the towel proffered to me. I dry myself, pull on my clothes, and nod to Mizore-

"Okay, I know for a fact I locked the door. How did you get in here?" I ask with resignation.

She just shrugs, the stem of her ever-present lollipop moving from one side of her mouth to another.

* * *

Obtaining a new door was a lot easier than I had initially anticipated. Apparently, a lot of monsters not used to having to behave like humans destroy doors, furniture, walls, plumbing, etc every year, to the point that have repairmen and a hardware department store right off of campus. They added the cost of the door to my tuition bill, which I was unhappy about until I remembered that I wasn't paying for college, they were paying my way. It's a nice feeling, scholarships.

Mizore followed me around to pick out the new door, and I'm glad she did. She made sure I picked one resistant to being sliced apart. I suppose it says something that there are armor ratings on each of the doors, ranging from non-corrosive to stop acidic creates to some sort of tough material designed to be claw resistant. Succubus claws are quite high on that scale, too, so I had to get myself something that wouldn't look strange in front of a vault, I think.

After shopping for a door, I decide to walk around campus a bit more. I find a nice place on one of the few green patches of lawn the campus has laid down to make the place more friendly and sit down, watching the students go by to all of their different affairs. Mizore is sat down few feet behind and to the left of me, sitting in the shade, but as close to me as she can be without leaving said shade.

In the daylight, and now that I'm looking for it, I can see that some of the student are acting strangely. One older boy with a bandana sits down on the ground and scratches behind his ear with his leg, which none of the surrounding students seem to notice. Off on the other side of the green, two blue lizard-people stop basking in the sun as the bell strikes ten, morphing into human form and presumably heading for class.

It's a nice clear day today. I'm glad I got the chance to stay outside for some time. I lie down in the soft grass, letting the sun warm my skin.

"Hot." Mizore eventually says, after fidgeting more and more for over an hour in silence. I turn around and look at her. She's wearing what looks like used to be a hoodie, but she chopped off the shoulders. Gods know how the thing stays on her. Well... I guess a quick glance down would answer my question.

"Yeah, maybe you shouldn't wear sweaters in September. It's too hot for that, still." I concede.

She shakes her head. "Need lollipop."

Lollipop? I glance at her mouth, which is missing it's usual white stem poking out from between her lips. "...How is a lollipop going to cool you down?" I ask.

"Special."

"Special?"

She nods. "Special."

I look at her for a second more. "So... where can you get some?"

"Student center." Mizore says, pointing to said building.

"Go ahead." I say. "I'll still be here when you get back."

I close my eyes again.

Two hands grab my shoulders, and I open my eyes back up to find a trembling Mizore. "C-Come with."

Okay. I sit up and move back the the shade, which comes to a massive relief to the snow woman beside me. I guide her through a roundabout path through the shade and a few buildings to get back to the campus center. Mizore is sweating buckets, and I'm almost drenched myself from mere contact.

Mizore zips into the building ahead of me, and by the time I'm inside she's already bought herself a few lollipops and stuffed one in her mouth. She's no longer shaking or sweating, that's good. As she notices me, she smiles.

Call me crazy, but she just doesn't look right without the white stem poking out from her mouth now that I've gotten used to it.

I glance at my watch, and realize I really should be heading for class. I wait for Mizore to catch back up with me, and start walking to the math building.

On the way, she offers me a lollipop. A fresh one, still in it's wrapper.

Why not? I accept to candy from Mizore, unwrap it, and stick in in my mouth.

My whole body starts to freeze from the inside out. I feel like I just went out into a snowstorm in my underwear! With one trembling hand I pull the lollipop out of my mouth. "Ah! C-cold!" I mutter, staring at the blue sphere on the end of the stick.

"Special." Mizore says again.

I offer the pop back to her, and she considers it for a minute before she pops it into her mouth next to the one she was already sucking on, a pleased look on her face.

* * *

Calc was, predictably, a bore. At least, the lesson was. Lots of notation, jotting things down in a notebook, and ignoring the clacking of Mizore's teeth on her lollipop. The teacher is interesting at least, an older woman who seems to be confused as to whether her jobs is that of a teacher or a prostitute. I don't think half of the students in her class paid attention to the lecture, but rather the way she kept wrapping her legs around each other.

Well, with that class over, I can head back to my dorm room and start unpacking.

Predictably, Mizore follows me into our common room. The only other person inside is Ruby.

"Hey! They delivered your door." Ruby points to a tall box propped against the wall.

"Great. I'll get that in right now." I look around warily. "Where's Moka and Kurumu?"

Ruby waves her hand dismissively. "They're in class."

"Ah, that's great. Can you help me install this door?"

Ruby shakes her head. "I'm about to head out myself, but Yukari should be around."

"Eh."

"Oh, don't be like that. She's just young, she'll figure it out eventually." Ruby grabs a black purse off the table. "Well, I'm out. Have fun installing that thing."

"Yeah, see you around."

She leaves and I look from the door to my door frame and back. Okay, so how do I set this up?

Attempting to move the door quickly proves useless. The damn thing must weigh a hundred pounds. I consider tipping it over and sliding it over, but before I can actually put my plan into action, Mizore steps up to the door and lifts it up with apparent ease. She then proceeds to move it to rest right next to my door frame.

"Thanks, Mizore."

She shifts her lollipop around her mouth happily.

"Now, I just need to remove it from the cardboard, and mount it."

Mizore's wrists suddenly sprout great claws of ice, sending a chill down my spine for more than one reason. She then lunges forwards and slashes at the cardboard.

For a second, nothing appears to happen. Then, the cardboard split in dozens of places and falls to the floor, leaving a pristine metal door.

"...Thanks, Mizore."

She beams with pride.

"What's all the ruckus?" Yukari comes out from Ruby's room and looks at the both of us. "Can't you two be quieter? I'm working on something."

"I'm sorry to disturb you." I say apologetically. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you working on?"

Yukari's face instantly lights up. "Yeah! I'm working on a new potion. It combines Amethyst and Garnet powder with some rotroot and a pinch of sulpher to make... well, I don't know yet, but it's probably going to be exciting!"

"...Is it alright to be so lackadaisical about brewing potion?" I wonder aloud.

Yukari puffs her cheeks out. "Of course it is, but only because I'm a genius." She pulls herself up straighter. "I'm great at making potions! That's why I was allowed to come here without passing the entrance exam."

Wow, this kid's smarter than me. "That's great! So, what do you think it will do when it's done?"

"Well, rotroot generally makes someone sick, and amethyst is an amplifier. The sulpher and the garnet will allow the potion's effects to last longer without diluting it's power. However, some ingredients act different in each other's presence, and will do odd things."

As yukari finishes explaining, a small boom makes my ears pop and kicks up all the dust in the common room. "...Like explode?"

"...Yeah." Yukari deflates. "I can't seem to get the correct amount of stirring into the potion. Too much and it explodes on the spot. Too little and the ingredients will separate."

I give her a thumbs up. "Good luck on figuring it out."

She smiles back at me. "I will!" Then she notices the door. "Succubus proofing the door? Smart. Otherwise, she'll wring you out in the night."

"Yeah." I look back at the empty doorframe. "I'm still kind of worried about how nonchalant everyone is about it though. The store clerk didn't bat an eye when I said I was anti-succubusing my room. Heck, he even said good luck!'"

Yukari smirks and waves her wand around a bit. Suddenly, the door leaps from it's resting place and aligns itself with the doorframe. The screws fly into the air and drill themselves into the frame, and before I knew it the door was fully attached to the wall. I test it a few times, opening it and shutting it and testing the deadbolt key.

"Wow!" I turn to Yukari. "How did you do that?"

"Magic! It's what separates us witches from you common folk." She turns up her nose with pride. "And I'm better at magic that other witches, which make me super special!"

Ah, she seems really hard to handle. "I can see that. Thank you for fixing my door."

Mizore steps up next to me, but keeps her eyes fixed on Yukari. One hand is set in front of me to hold me back.

Yukari looks Mizore up and down, as if seeing her for the first time. "Huh. This is the ice lady Auntie Ruby mentioned? You don't look that impressive."

From her voluminous sleeves, Mizore's hands suddenly get encased in ice, the the effect of giving her giant icy claws. "Loud." She mumbles, just loud enough that I can hear her. "Annoying."

"Well, I have better things to do with my time than talk with you idiots." Yukari turns on her heel. "I have potions to brew."

Mizore watches the young girl until she disappears inside of Ruby's room and closes the door before finally letting her ice claws melt.

"Er, thanks Mizore, but I don't think I needed defending." I say to the light purple mop of hair in front of me. She turns and her eyes fix on mine. "I mean, she's young. She'll figure out that such behavior won't get her far fairly quickly."

"Okay." Mizore relaxes a bit.

I turn back to my new door. It's a shiny blueish-gray, and it looks really out of place. In fact, now that I think about it, the wall is probably weaker than the door. I wouldn't want to actually mention that around Kurumu, but it's probably true. I head into my room and start unpacking the rest of my clothes and stuff into the dresser.

Predictably, The ice woman follows me in and takes a significant interest in my things. I handed her one of my shirts since she was so absorbed with looking at it, and she then refused to look away or let go of the shirt until I had finished unpacking my clothes. I grab my toiletries and deposit them in the shelf reserved by my toothbrush and paste. despite myself, I smile to myself. I'm starting to warm up to this. It's so weird to live with other people after living with your family your whole life.

When I walk back into my room, Mizore was no longer looking at my shirt in her hands. No, she's wearing it instead, and still staring down at it.

"Uh, Mizore?"

She looks up at me and smiles slightly. "Cool."

I can feel my face heat up. "Uh, yeah. Um. I-if you want, you can keep it?"

Her smile widens slightly and she hugs herself, a content smile on her face. My god, she's adorable. Like a puppy, but even cuter. I step up and sit down on the edge of my bed next to her. "So, I hear you and Kurumu are friends."

Mizore nods, her eyes opening back up and she fixes me with her stare. "Schooled together."

"That's great, that you have a friend from long ago."

"You do to." Mizore points to a picture I had unpacked; one from two years ago, Moka and I at an amusement park. Moka likes thrill rides, and I'm more of a Ferris wheel type of guy, which goes as well for me as you'd expect. The picture in question is from the top of a loop on one of those crazy coasters. Moka looks excited, I look terrified. "Moka."

"Ah, well..." I scratch my chin. "I would have agreed with you, but she's... I don't know who she is."

Mizore frowns at me. "Moka."

"Yes, I know her name. I mean, I didn't know monsters existed until recently, but I've been hanging out with her for years. I know she didn't really have a choice but to keep it from me, but I still feel a bit betrayed, you know?"

The lollipop rolls in Mizores mouth. "Yes." She thinks for a second more. "Should forgive anyway."

I smile wanly. "Yeah, I know. I don't blame her but it's hard to immediately trust her again."

Mizore nods. Then she points to herself, then me. "Friends."

"You're in my room, wearing my shirt." I point out. "If we weren't friends, I'd be calling the police."

She smiles broad enough that I can see the lollipop past her teeth. "Good luck with that."

* * *

Dinner is a nice affair. I had time to prepare something more substantial than pasta, so I made a casserole.

I'm quite proud of my cooking, and judging by how Mizore actually managed to pry her eyes from me for five seconds to stare at the dish, I gather it smells good to the others as well.

Moka and Ruby had returned, and they're both practically drooling in anticipation. Still no sign of Yukari aside from the occasional explosion.

"How much longer?" Moka asks.

"Three minutes." I say, checking the oven timer. "How was your class?"

"It was okay." Moka says. "The teacher is hot, but he smells like he lost a fight with a bog."

"Oh, you mean Dr. Sosi? Yeah, he's a literal swamp monster." Ruby says. "From what I remember of the guy, he's happily married to a frog woman."

That mental image though. A frog wearing a bridal veil, and a random tree in the swamp dressed in a tuxedo.

Before I can actually put my thoughts to words, the oven timer rings and I turn back to get the casserole out.

I place it at the table and place the hotpad gloved to the side. Moka had already started scooping out a portion onto her plate.

The front door bursts open and in comes an exhausted Kurumu. She perks up a bit when she smells the food, but she still looks like she just got out of a battle. "Hey~ I'm home."

"Welcome back." I call. "Food's on the table."

"Great! I'll be there once I wash this layer of slime off."

Despite myself, I look down at her clean clothes. Definitely not like last time she need to wash off a layer of slime.

She notices my glance and laughs weakly. "Not real slime, just slimy looks. I'm going to take a shower."

I think it says something that she didn't ask me to join her. Not sure what, but it says something.

I sit down with the three others and eat, a pleasant chatter rising up between Ruby and Moka about how different classes get started, with Mizore occasionally adding in a word. I ate in silence, preferring to just listen to the flow of words around me.

"Hey, Tsukune, you listening?"

Or, maybe I should pay attention. I look up from my food and at Ruby. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked what your plans for the weekend are. I'm headed to the city to go get some more exotic things I need for my magic and I figured you munchkins would like to tag along."

"Sure." I shrug. "Why not?" Moka looks happy, and Mizore looks thoughtful.

Kurumu comes out of the shower fully clothed and plops down in the last seat at the table. "I really, _really_ hate CS 115." She complains as she scoops some food out of it's tray.

"Which class is that?" I ask.

"Coding for beginners." She says. "Buncha loser virgins in that class. None of them, not even the teacher, would stop looking at me with-" She shudders and stops talking.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Hey, eat something and forget about it." I say, trying desperately to take her mind of what was probably a bad experience.

Kurumu forks some of the meal into her mouth and I can see the stress release from her face. I can't help but smile at the sight.

* * *

After dinner, I sit down and pull out the homework I had been assigned already. My pencil moves quickly as I spit out the answers to the simple word problems Miss Nekonome had assigned.

"Man, that was good." Kurumu flops down on the couch next to me, then lays her head down on my shoulder. I can feel my spine stiffen at the contact. "It's so nice to be clean and well fed."

Moka eyes Kurumu for a minute, then goes back to her own homework.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

Kurumu nods, rubbing her cheek on my shoulder. "I am!"

Moka puts down her book and glares at Kurumu. "Hey, why don't you get off of Tsukune?"

Kurumu smirks at Moka without moving her head. "Why don't you make me?"

"Wait, both of you, there's no need to fight." I say, hoping to head off any further hostilities.

"Of course not. After all, Tsukune is going to marry me and we're going to eat casserole every night." Kurumu taunts Moka.

"No, he's not. He doesn't even know you." Moka says, her face getting a little scary. Is that shadows forming behind her. "I've been his friend for three years before now, you're just some random stranger."

"Aw, but we look so good together!" She swings her leg up and wraps her hands around me neck, hiking herself up onto my lap. "Don't you agree, Tsukune?"

"Ah..." I look at the girl in my lap. "Well, I don't really know you that well yet, so..."

Kurumu purses her lips into a pout. "Fiiine." She lets go of me and goes back to sitting right next to me. Her face splits into a mischievous grin and she leans right up to my ear. "I guess I'll just have to show you all of me, so you can know me very, _very_ well."

Her breath on my ear causes me to shiver.

Moka's forehead pops a vein, and she scoops up her homework. "I'll be in my room." She sounds angry.

Once she leaves however Kurumu suddenly becomes serious. "You've known each other for a long time, huh?"

"Haha, yeah. She's been a really good friend to me."

"I wonder." Kurumu flops over sideways and puts her head in my lap. I'm wearing shorts, so I can feel her hair on my skin. "I mean, she's one of us. A monster. She's probably been using you as a food source."

"Huh? Moka? No, I think I would have noticed getting eaten."

Kurumu shakes her head, and her hair makes an... _interesting_ feeling on my legs. "Lots of us don't eat people physically, like I told you before. For instance, a lot of monsters actually get hungry for fear. They have to scare people to get their fill. Sure some monsters just like to eat people, but those guys tend not to do well in society."

"...I can imagine." I laugh nervously.

"Relax. I don't get off from fear or anything like that. I don't eat humans either." Kurumu smirks up to me. "Us succubi get our kicks from Testosterone. When humans produce testoterone, a bunch of it gets dumped out through your sweat. That scent alone can revitalize a succubus from near death." Her smirk grows wider. "You've been a great source of food."

I'm sure my face is red. The fact that this is probably feeding her isn't helping me calm down any. "I, uh, you're welcome?"

She finally sits back up. "Yeah, thanks." Her grin fades some. "Thanks for not freaking out. I lost a few friends in the when I told them what I was and how I feed."

"I thought you didn't hang out with humans?"

Her smile grows bitter. "Yeah, well, succubi aren't exactly the most liked monster race either. I'm gonna go to bed, and leave you to your homework."

"Okay." I look up at her, and have to stop from stopping to gaze at her chest. At least I understand _why_ she's ridiculously attractive now. "Goodnight."

Once she's gone, I look down. Down, boy. No monster for you.

* * *

Snoring.

Not mine.

I wake up, and it's still dark out. A quick glance at my alarm clock shows it's three AM.

My eyes take some time to focus in the low light, but I finally see that my door is still standing. The door is still locked, and so is the window. I pull the covers back to reveal a mop of purple hair, and the white stem of a lollipop poking from her lips.

Mizore? How did she get in here? ...Isn't bad for her to under a blanket in this heat?

I place a hand on her forehead, but she doesn't seem to be too warm. In fact, she feels freezing. If she was a normal human, I'd be suspicious that this was a corpse. She's clearly not, as she snores like a chainsaw.

Her eyes slowly open and she looks around in all directions before finally looking at me. "Morning?"

"No, not morning. What are you doing here?"

She looks down at herself, dressed in a t-shirt (wait, isn't that mine?) and some shorts. "Sleeping." She looks back at me and smiles with confidence.

I rest my face in my hands. "No, I mean, why are you sleeping _here?_ "

She tilts her head and swishes the lollipop around a bit. "More comfortable than the floor."

"...Do you not have your own bed?"

She shakes her head, which... doesn't actually answer my question. No, she doesn't have a bed, or No, she does?

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Uhg. I'm going to get myself a glass of water."

She nods and pulls the blanket back over her head.

"I didn't say you could stay." I grumble under my breath. Instead of pressing the issue, I head to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water.

What happened to my life? I got thrown into this crazy world all at once... Monsters! What the hell! How... how can these exist without the general public knowing about it? They obviously live among us, given Moka's been hanging out with me for three years, but with all the new technology, wouldn't at least some pictures surface? This entire thing is absurd!

Not to mention that I'm basically lunch around here. Succubi eat my sweat. Some other things eat my fear, and still others want to eat my flesh. I need to get out of here as soon as I can. I mean, my parents will be disappointed, but i'll take that over being dead any day.

I'm roused from my thoughts by Moka. She exits her room and smiles when she sees me. "Hey, Tsukune." She whispers. "You're thirsty too?"

"Er, yeah." I hold the glass up. "Just about done."

"Um..." She fidgets for a bit. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Sigh. "Sure."

"I-I'm sorry for lying to you. You know, about me being a monster." She starts worrying her pajamas. "We can't really just tell anyone about it. I wanted to, believe me, but if I did I'd get moved far away." She sits down at the table and stares at it. "When you told me you were having a hard time getting into college, I asked dad if he could get you into Raakshas with me, and he talked with the president."

"Ah. So that's why the interview was so lame."

"Uh huh." She looks about ready to collapse in on herself. "I'm sorry for interfering."

"No, well, I'm thankful you've been trying so hard for my sake." I rub the back of my head. "Honestly, the whole monster thing is hard to process, but I think I'll make it if I try."

Her face lifts. "Really?"

I have to smile back. "Really. Hey, all I need to do is use that soap to make me smell less human and I'll be set."

"Bleh." Moka frowns. "That stuff smells nasty. Probably not to you, but it will to me." She grabs one of her biceps and tenses her arm. "Instead, I'll protect you!"

"Heh. I guess I'll be in your care then." I set my glass down and get another from the cupboard. After filling it with water, I set it down in front of Moka. "You said you were thirsty."

"Haha, yeah." She sips at the water, "Um, don't you want to know what I am? I've been hiding it form you for a long time."

"Well, yes, but I figure you'll tell me when you want to." I shrug. "I figure as long as you aren't eating me I'll be fine."

She laughs, but I notice it's a tiny bit hollow. "Right, no eating you. But your skin smells so delicious!" She licks her lips dramatically. "Please, just one bite?

There's the regular old Moka back. Teasing, playful. "Maybe, if you ask nicely." I smirk.

She turns her eyes up at me. "Please?"

I offer my forearm, expecting her to bite me playfully.

Instead, her eyes glaze over and I feel her teeth sink in and puncture the flesh on my arm. "OW!" I try to shake my arm out of her mouth, but her grip is too strong.

After a moment, her eyes return to normal and she realizes what she's doing. She immediately stretches out her jaw, revealing four elongated canines. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't- I wasn't going to actually-"

My arm starts to go numb and the bleeding stops, which is odd for wounds that big. "W-I didn't expect you to actually bite!"

"I wasn't planning on it either!" Tears form in her eyes. "I... I..."

"What are you two doing?" Ruby's sleepy voice comes form her doorway. "You're way too loud for Three AM." THen she notices the blood still pooling on the table and dripping from Moka's fangs. "...Um, Tsukune, do I have to save you from being eaten?"

"I... Don't think so?" After all, I've stopped bleeding and Moka's at the verge of tears.

"Alright. Shut up and go to bed. I'm tired." Ruby closes her door behind her.

"S-Sorry." Moka's pulled her knees to her chest and is rocking back and forth. "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to."

"Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm not dead, you didn't eat me." I place one of my hands carefully on each of her shoulders. When she doesn't immediately jerk away, I continue. "You okay?"

"I'll... I'll be alright." Moka stands up. "Sorry, but I'm going to go back to bed."

As I'm left all alone in the kitchen, I look at the abandoned glass on the table. Yeah, this place is dangerous. Yet, I don't want to leave.

Kurumu comes out of her room, in her nightie again. "Tsukune? What are you doing up?"

"Oh, just feeding Moka." I say nonchalantly. "By the way, she's not a fear type."


End file.
